BOYATA READY FOR FINAL RECKONING

DEDRYCK BOYATA has warned Celtic there is still much work to be done with the unprecedented treble treble in sight.

And the Hoops central defender insists the holders will have to be at their best to overcome Aberdeen in next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final if they hope to line up against Hearts or Inverness Caley Thistle in the Final at Hampden on May 25.

That could be the afternoon Neil Lennon’s men complete the historic third successive silverware clean sweep.

However, before even thinking about a return to the national stadium to bring down the curtain on another eventful campaign, the Parkhead men face a dodgy last-four crunch confrontation against the Dons who beat Steven Gerrard’s side 2-0 in last night’s quarter-final replay at Ibrox.

The Pittodrie outfit also locked out Odsonne Edouard, Oliver Burke and Co in the east end of Glasgow last weekend in the frustrating scoreless stalemate where the Belgian World Cup centre-back put in a Man of the Match performance.

Boyata, speaking to the Celtic View, said: “Overall, that was the kind of game we expected from Aberdeen. It was physical, it was tight, there were a lot of rough and hard challenges all over the pitch.

“Whenever you draw without scoring, you always think that you could or might have done more

MAN ON A MISSION…Dedryck Boyata aims for a final flourish to the season.

“But we’ve been playing so well lately and, while you could look at Saturday as two points dropped, it’s still a good point against a very good Aberdeen side.

“Of course, we still have to keep going to the next one and the next one after that until the end of the season.”

Boyata, 28, who is likely to quit the Hoops when his contract expires at the end of the term, is still focusing on the trophy run-in.

He added: “Aberdeen did defend well. They were disciplined, structured and we were a bit flat, so we move on. Again, we have been so good this year so far, since we came back from the break, so we take the point and look forward to Dundee on Sunday.

“The expectation is always high at a club like Celtic and we, as players, fully understand this.

“The way the results went elsewhere last week means that we’re disappointed not to extend our lead at the top that bit more, but to re-establish the lead we have at this stage of the season against a side as good as Aberdeen is the positive we must draw from the result.

“Winning Man of the Match is always a good thing, but, to be honest, I’d rather pick up things like this when we win.

“In any game of football, there are disappointments and positives to be drawn and we try to avoid focusing on the negatives wherever we can.

“The season is far from finished, we still have a number of games to go and we aim to win as many points and as many trophies as we can from here.”

ADVERTISEMENTS

ADVERTISEMENTS

Celtic Quick News

Welcome to the new look Celtic Quick News where you will find the latest Celtic news and features, posted 365 days a year! You can join the conversation too! Simply register and have your say below the blog posts at the top of the site. For more information please email [email protected]